On a bank of flowers, in a summer day,For summer lightly drest,The youthful, blooming Nelly lay,With love and sleep opprest;When Willie, wand’ring thro’ the wood,Who for her favour oft had sued;He gaz’d, he wish’dHe fear’d, he blush’d,And trembled where he stood.9
Her closed eyes, like weapons sheath’d,Were seal’d in soft repose;Her lip, still as she fragrant breath’d,It richer dyed the rose;The springing lilies, sweetly prest,Wild-wanton kissed her rival breast;He gaz’d, he wish’d,He mear’d, he blush’d,His bosom ill at rest.18
Her robes, light-waving in the breeze,Her tender limbs embrace;Her lovely form, her native ease,All harmony and grace;Tumultuous tides his pulses roll,A faltering, ardent kiss he stole;He gaz’d, he wish’d,He fear’d, he blush’d,And sigh’d his very soul.27
As flies the partridge from the brake,On fear-inspired wings,So Nelly, starting, half-awake,Away affrighted springs;But Willie follow’d—as he should,He overtook her in the wood;He vow’d, he pray’d,He found the maidForgiving all, and good.36